U.S. patent application number 16/265622 was filed with the patent office on 2019-05-30 for binary experimentation on running web servers.
This patent application is currently assigned to Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC.. The applicant listed for this patent is Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC.. Invention is credited to Zackaria Adel ALI, Arye GITTELMAN, Steven LI, David Scott RETTERATH.
Application Number | 20190166111 16/265622 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 61560961 |
Filed Date | 2019-05-30 |
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United States Patent
Application |
20190166111 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
RETTERATH; David Scott ; et
al. |
May 30, 2019 |
BINARY EXPERIMENTATION ON RUNNING WEB SERVERS
Abstract
Systems and methods to enable on-the-fly modification of running
processes on a webserver more quickly and efficiently are discussed
herein. A code vault is used to store binaries for use in
production code running on a server, which are downloaded and
implemented in the running process when authorized by developers.
The process retrieves the binaries from the code vault to deploy
the modifications to a specified audience without having to
re-instantiate or run a parallel process with the new binaries.
Binaries for different audiences or subsequent experiments may be
downloaded onto the same machine, but remain isolated. Control of
the deployments may require multi-factor or multi-user
authentication and are logged for change control.
Inventors: |
RETTERATH; David Scott;
(Sammamish, WA) ; ALI; Zackaria Adel; (Seattle,
WA) ; GITTELMAN; Arye; (Mercer Island, WA) ;
LI; Steven; (Kirkland, WA) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC. |
Redmond |
WA |
US |
|
|
Assignee: |
Microsoft Technology Licensing,
LLC.
Redmond
WA
|
Family ID: |
61560961 |
Appl. No.: |
16/265622 |
Filed: |
February 1, 2019 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
15263298 |
Sep 12, 2016 |
10230712 |
|
|
16265622 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06F 21/57 20130101;
H04L 67/34 20130101; H04L 63/102 20130101; G06F 2221/033 20130101;
H04L 63/123 20130101; H04L 2463/082 20130101; G06F 11/3644
20130101; H04L 63/08 20130101; G06F 11/3688 20130101; G06F 21/40
20130101 |
International
Class: |
H04L 29/06 20060101
H04L029/06; H04L 29/08 20060101 H04L029/08; G06F 21/40 20060101
G06F021/40; G06F 11/36 20060101 G06F011/36; G06F 21/57 20060101
G06F021/57 |
Claims
1. A method for enabling binary experiments in a running process,
comprising: establishing a parent library; establishing, within the
parent library, a production file, wherein the production file
contains one or more files used to execute a running process,
wherein the one or more files to execute the running process
includes one or more version files and wherein each of the one or
more version files contains a different version of the running
process and contains one or more component binaries of the
respective version of the running process establishing, within the
parent library, an experiment file that is distinct from the
production file, wherein the experiment file contains one or more
files used to execute an experimental binary, wherein the one or
more files used to execute the experimental binary includes one or
more audience files and wherein each of the one or more audience
files includes one or more experimental binaries for used with the
running process; and during the running process of a respective
version overriding one or more of the component binaries of the
respective version with corresponding one or more experimental
binaries.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more component
binaries correspond to the one or more experimental binaries based
on the one or more component binaries sharing the same title as the
one or more experimental binaries.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein there are at least two audience
files and the method further comprising determining which of the at
least two audience files is the newest and using the one or more
experimental binaries from the newest audience file to override the
one or more component binaries of the respective version.
4. The method of claim 3, the method further comprising backing out
one or more older experimental binaries from the running process
prior to overriding the one or more component binaries with the
newest experimental binaries.
5. The method of claim 3, the method further comprising determining
that at least one of the one or more experimental binaries includes
a dependency and based on the determination of a dependency, making
a first attempt to resolve the dependency from the same audience
file containing the at least one experimental binary.
6. The method of claim 5, wherein the first attempt to resolve the
dependency is unsuccessful and the method further comprising
resolving the dependency only with a corresponding component binary
from the respective version file of the running process.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein there are a plurality of audience
files and wherein the experimental binaries of each of the
plurality of audience files are utilized only in isolation from the
plurality of the other audience files.
8. A computing device for enabling binary experiments in a running
process, the computing device comprising: a memory storing
executable instructions; and a processor executing the executable
instructions and, based on execution of the instructions, the
processor being caused to: establish a parent library; establish,
within the parent library, a production file, wherein the
production file contains one or more files used to execute a
running process, wherein the one or more files to execute the
running process includes one or more version files and wherein each
of the one or more version files contains a different version of
the running process and contains one or more component binaries of
the respective version of the running process establish, within the
parent library, an experiment file that is distinct from the
production file, wherein the experiment file contains one or more
files used to execute an experimental binary, wherein the one or
more files used to execute the experimental binary includes one or
more audience files and wherein each of the one or more audience
files includes one or more experimental binaries for use with the
running process; and during the running process of a respective
version override one or more of the component binaries of the
respective version with corresponding one or more experimental
binaries.
9. The computing device of claim 8, wherein the one or more
component binaries correspond to the one or more experimental
binaries based on the one or more component binaries sharing the
same title as the one or more experimental binaries.
10. The computing device of claim 8, wherein there are at least two
audience files and wherein the processor is further caused to
determine which of the at least two audience files is the newest
and use the one or more experimental binaries from the newest
audience file to override the one or more component binaries of the
respective version.
11. The computing device of claim 10, wherein the processor is
further caused to back out one or more older experimental binaries
from the running process prior to overriding the one or more
component binaries with the newest experimental binaries.
12. The computing device of claim 10, wherein the processor is
further caused to determine that at least one of the one or more
experimental binaries includes a dependency and based on the
determination of a dependency, make a first attempt to resolve the
dependency from the same audience file containing the at least one
experimental binary.
13. The computing device of claim 12, wherein the first attempt to
resolve the dependency is unsuccessful and the processor is further
caused to resolve the dependency only with a corresponding
component binary from the respective version file of the running
process.
14. The computing device of claim 8, wherein there are a plurality
of audience files and wherein the experimental binaries of each of
the plurality of audience files are utilized only in isolation from
the plurality of the other audience files.
15. Computer storage media storing instructions that when executed
by a computing device cause the computing device to enable binary
experiments in a running process, wherein the instructions executed
by the computing device comprise instructions to: establish a
parent library; establish, within the parent library, a production
file, wherein the production file contains one or more files used
to execute a running process, wherein the one or more files to
execute the running process includes one or more version files and
wherein each of the one or more version files contains a different
version of the running process and contains one or more component
binaries of the respective version of the running process
establish, within the parent library, an experiment file that is
distinct from the production file, wherein the experiment file
contains one or more files used to execute an experimental binary,
wherein the one or more files used to execute the experimental
binary includes one or more audience files and wherein each of the
one or more audience files includes one or more experimental
binaries for use with the running process; and during the running
process of a respective version override one or more of the
component binaries of the respective version with corresponding one
or more experimental binaries.
16. The computer storage media of claim 15, wherein the one or more
component binaries correspond to the one or more experimental
binaries based on the one or more component binaries sharing the
same title as the one or more experimental binaries.
17. The computer storage media of claim 15, wherein there are at
least two audience files and wherein the instructions further
comprise an instruction to determine which of the at least two
audience files is the newest and use the one or more experimental
binaries from the newest audience file to override the one or more
component binaries of the respective version.
18. The computer storage media of claim 17, wherein the
instructions further comprise an instruction to back out one or
more older experimental binaries from the running process prior to
overriding the one or more component binaries with the newest
experimental binaries.
19. The computer storage media of claim 17, wherein the
instructions further comprise an instruction to determine that at
least one of the one or more experimental binaries includes a
dependency and based on the determination of a dependency, make a
first attempt to resolve the dependency from the same audience file
containing the at least one experimental binary.
20. The computer storage media of claim 19, wherein the first
attempt to resolve the dependency is unsuccessful and wherein the
instructions further comprise an instruction to resolve the
dependency only with a corresponding component binary from the
respective version file of the running process.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation of U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 15/263,298, filed Sep. 12, 2016, entitled,
"BINARY EXPERIMENTATION ON RUNNING WEB SERVERS." The disclosure of
this priority application is hereby incorporated by reference in
its entirety into the present application.
BACKGROUND
[0002] Web servers provide computing resources for users to run
their software on as part of the "cloud." These servers may be
offered as part of a service from the cloud provider to the users,
which may be classified as: Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS),
where the user provides the operating system and software; Platform
as a Service (PaaS), where the user provides the software and the
cloud host provides the operation system; or Software as a Service
(SaaS), where the cloud host provides both operating system and
software to the user. Due to the nature of the cloud, updating any
of the software provided to a given server may require software or
services to be taken offline temporarily or to be substituted by a
second process, and for the modified code to be heavily tested
before deployment, as any change to the software to benefit one
user may interfere with operations for another user. This leads to
a slow and methodical update policy for web servers, which prevents
the cloud host and the users from applying patches and updates to
software quickly and efficiently.
SUMMARY
[0003] This summary is provided to introduce a selection of
concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in
the Detailed Description section. This summary is not intended to
identify all key or essential features of the claimed subject
matter, nor is it intended as an aid in determining the scope of
the claimed subject matter.
[0004] Systems and methods are discussed herein to allow for the
fast and isolated distribution of various binaries to affect
processes on web servers while those processes are running. The
binaries (patches, updates, additional programs or other data)
provided to various servers are isolated to affect only a specific
subset of users and software running on the associated web servers.
The binaries are checked into a source code control system, from
which the running processes may download and access the binaries
when so signaled. In various aspects, a given binary may be
selected for execution by a set audience (one or more users
regardless of host machine, one or more specific web servers
regardless of user), and the selection may require multi-factor
authentication for added security and change logging. Selected web
servers retrieve selected binaries from the source code control
system and the resolution of those binaries against existing
binaries running in the process are controlled so that the selected
binaries override the dependencies in the running process, but only
for the selected audience. Any dependencies from the binaries that
are not resolved within a given binary fall back to the running
process; isolating the experimental binaries of one user from the
core systems and experimental binaries used by other users, while
allowing the process to continue running.
[0005] Examples are implemented as a computer process, a computing
system, or as an article of manufacture such as a device, computer
program product, or computer readable medium. According to an
aspect, the computer program product is a computer storage medium
readable by a computer system and encoding a computer program
comprising instructions for executing a computer process.
[0006] The details of one or more aspects are set forth in the
accompanying drawings and description below. Other features and
advantages will be apparent from a reading of the following
detailed description and a review of the associated drawings. It is
to be understood that the following detailed description is
explanatory only and is not restrictive of the claims.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0007] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and
constitute a part of this disclosure, illustrate various aspects.
In the drawings:
[0008] FIG. 1 illustrates an example environment in which the
present disclosure may be practiced;
[0009] FIG. 2 illustrates an example file path that may be run on a
server;
[0010] FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing general stages involved in an
example method for providing user-targeted modification of a
running process on a cloud-based server;
[0011] FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating example physical
components of a computing device;
[0012] FIGS. 5A and 5B are block diagrams of a mobile computing
device; and
[0013] FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a distributed computing
system.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0014] The following detailed description refers to the
accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference
numbers are used in the drawings and the following description
refers to the same or similar elements. While examples may be
described, modifications, adaptations, and other implementations
are possible. For example, substitutions, additions, or
modifications may be made to the elements illustrated in the
drawings, and the methods described herein may be modified by
substituting, reordering, or adding stages to the disclosed
methods. Accordingly, the following detailed description is not
limiting, but instead, the proper scope is defined by the appended
claims. Examples may take the form of a hardware implementation, or
an entirely software implementation, or an implementation combining
software and hardware aspects. The following detailed description
is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense.
[0015] Systems and methods are discussed herein to allow for the
fast and isolated distribution of various binaries to affect
processes on web servers while those processes are running. The
binaries, may provide patches, updates, additional programs or
other data for use with the running processes. In one example, the
binaries are provided by a file providing class and function
definitions, such as a Dynamic Link Library (DLL). A DLL is a
library that contains code and data that can be used by more than
one program at the same time. For example, in an operating system,
a DLL enables common dialog box related functions for various
portions of the operating system or programs run by the operating
system to be shared, which promotes code reuse and efficient memory
usage. By using a DLL, a program can be modularized into separate
components. For example, an accounting program may be sold by
module. Each module can be loaded into the main program at run time
if that module is installed. Because the modules are separate, the
load time of the program is faster, and a module is only loaded
when that functionality is requested. Additionally, updates are
easier to apply to each module without affecting other parts of the
program.
[0016] FIG. 1 illustrates an example environment 100 in which the
present disclosure may be practiced. As illustrated, a developer
device 110 is in communication with a code vault 120 and one or
more servers 130 offered as part of a cloud computing service to
users. In various aspects, the code vault 120 may be hosted on the
developer device 110, the server 130, or a remote computing device.
Similarly, the developer device 110 may be provided as a virtual
machine running on the server 130 or as a distinct device.
[0017] The developer device 110, the code vault 120, and server 130
are illustrative of a multitude of computing systems including,
without limitation, desktop computer systems, wired and wireless
computing systems, mobile computing systems (e.g., mobile
telephones, netbooks, tablet or slate type computers, notebook
computers, and laptop computers), hand-held devices, multiprocessor
systems, microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronics,
minicomputers, printers, and mainframe computers. The hardware of
these computing systems is discussed in greater detail in regard to
FIGS. 4, 5A, 5B, and 6. Developer devices 110 are operated by
developers, who may be humans or automated systems (e.g., "bots")
that create new binaries for use on the servers 130 in conjunction
with the applications and processes provided to users of those
servers 130. In various aspects, the developer device 110, the code
vault 120, and the server 130 may be accessed by a user or each
other locally and/or by a network, which may include the Internet,
a Local Area Network (LAN), a private distributed network for an
entity (e.g., a company, a university, a government agency), a
wireless ad hoc network, a Virtual Private Network (VPN) or other
direct data link (e.g., Bluetooth connection, a direct wired
link).
[0018] The developer device 110 provides, as services to a
developer, an experiment creator 111 by which the binaries to
implement on the servers 130 are created, and an experiment
initiator 112, by which the developer signals the servers 130 to
pull a given experimental binary from the code vault 120 to
implement with the currently running processes on the servers 130
for a given audience. The binaries created by the experiment
creator 111 are checked into the code vault 120 for access by one
or more servers 130 at a later time, and the one or more servers
130 are signaled to access one or more experimental binaries from
the code vault 120 via the experiment initiator 112. In various
aspects, which particular servers 130 or which particular users'
servers 130 are to pull a given experimental binary (i.e., are the
audience for a particular binary) from the code vault 120 may be
specified by the developer via the experiment creator 111 or via
the experiment initiator 112. In various aspects, the experiment
creator 111 and the experiment initiator 112 may be different
aspects of one application, while in other aspects the experiment
creator 111 and experiment initiator 112 are provided as distinct
applications.
[0019] The code vault 120 stores the experimental binaries for one
or more developers, which may be part of one or more development
teams. For example, the code vault 120 may store the experimental
binaries for all of the developers from one development team, but
may also store the experimental binaries for developers from
another development team. These experimental binaries may be held
so that they are hidden from other developers or development teams,
so that, for example, developers from a first team cannot see or
access binaries stored for a second team. Alternatively, developers
may share binaries that they have submitted to the code vault 120
across teams. In various aspects, an experimental binary may have
an associated certificate or hash value stored with the
experimental binaries so that parties can verify (e.g., for
security purposes) the authenticity of the binary or the developer
who submitted the binary.
[0020] The servers 130 retrieve experimental binaries from the code
vault 120 via a component manager 131 in response to a signal sent
from the experiment initiator 112. In various aspects, the
component manager 131 may require multi-factor authentication
before pulling the experimental binaries from the code vault 120 or
signaling the server agent 132 to use the experimental binaries.
Such multifactor authentication may verify the identity and the
permissions of the user of the developer device 110 that requested
an experiment to be run, and may require more than one developer to
signal approval before initiating the experiment. Similarly, the
component manager may verify the identities of the requested
binaries (or the identifies of the developers who posted the
requested binaries) to ensure that malicious code is not inserted
into the servers 130. The component manager 131 logs the identities
of the binaries, the requesting users, and the audience for the
experiment for record keeping and change logging purposes. In
various aspects, each server 130 within the server farm of cloud
computing environment may run its own component manager 131, or
multiple servers 130 may share one component manager 131.
[0021] The server agent 132 runs the applications and operating
systems that are made available to the users. Each server 130
provides one or more server agents 132 to its users, which may
access the server 130 and the running applications and processes on
Virtual Machines (VM) running on the server 130. The behaviors of
the processes running on the servers 130 are set by the server
agents 132 and determine which experiments, if any, affect the
behaviors of the running processes. The server agent 132 identifies
whether the server 130 on which it runs or the processes that it is
managing is part of the audience for an experiment. In response,
the server agent 132 will prioritize calls from the running
processes to use the experimental binaries of an active experiment
rather than the production code for the binaries or the binaries
from another experiment. The server agent 132 resolves any
conflicts between the running processes and the experimental
binaries (or between multiple experimental binaries) so that the
processes and/or the server 130 on which they are run do not need
to be shut down to implement the experimental binaries.
[0022] FIG. 2 illustrates an example file path 200 that may be run
on a server 130 to discuss in regard to conflict resolution between
binaries. As will be appreciated, in different file systems, the
individual files and documents may be arranged and made addressable
by an operating system differently on the physical computer
readable storage device and the example file path 200 is provided
for illustrative purposes only; other file paths with more or fewer
files and folders with different names are possible in different
aspects.
[0023] As illustrated, a series of files and documents depend from
a parent library 210 for the server (labeled "Server" in this
example). The production file 220, containing the files and
documents for the production releases of the running process, and
the experiment file 250, containing the files and documents for
various experimental binaries that have been accessed by the
component manager 131, both depend from the parent library 210.
[0024] The production file 220 (labeled "Production" in this
example) contains one or more version files 230, each containing
different versions of the running process and its component
binaries 240 that have been distributed for general consumption
within the cloud computing environment. In various aspects, the
server agent 132 uses the highest numbered version file 230 when
more than one version file 230 is present in the production file
220, while in other aspects, only one version file 230 is
maintained in the production file 220 at a time. Although three
component binaries 240 (first component binary 240a, second
component binary 240b, and third component binary 240c) are
illustrated, one of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that
the number of component binaries within a given version file may be
greater or lesser than what is illustrated in FIG. 2.
[0025] The experiment file 250 (labeled "Experiments" in this
example) contains one or more audience files 260 (illustrated as a
first audience file 260a and a second audience file 260b, for
illustrative purposes), which contain one or more experimental
binaries 270 for use with the running process.
[0026] The experimental binaries 270 and the associated audience
file 260 are pulled from the code vault 120 when authorization has
been received, and may be placed in the file paths 200 of one or
more servers 130. As will be appreciated, in a cloud computing
environment, a server 130 may host multiple users, and a given user
may be hosted on multiple servers 130, therefor the authorized
experimental binaries 270 may be deployed to multiple servers 130,
some of which may not be part of the intended audience. The server
agent 132 determines whether the given server 130 on which the
server agent 132 runs is part of the intended audience and will use
a given set of experimental binaries 270 instead of the component
binaries 240 of the production-level code of the running process to
be modified.
[0027] For example, when the server agent 132 determines that the
server 130 is part of the audience for the first audience file
260a, it will use the experiment binaries 270 instead of the
component binaries 240; overriding the component binaries 240 for
the running process. For example, the first audience file 260a
includes a first experimental binary 270a titled "ExpMgr.dll",
which will override the corresponding first component binary 240a
titled "ExpMgr.dll" based on the shared title. Similarly, in
another example, when the server agent 132 determines that the
server 130 is part of the audience for the second audience file
260b, the second experimental binary 270b titled "ExpMgr.dll" will
override the corresponding first component binary 240a and the
third experimental binary 270c will override the corresponding
third component binary 240c based on their shared titles.
[0028] In an another example, when the server agent 132 determines
that the server 130 is part of the audience for both the first
audience file 260a and the second audience files 260b, the server
agent 132 will determine which of the audience files 260 is more
recent, and use the corresponding experimental binaries 270. In
various aspects, the more recent audience file 260 is determined by
which audience file 260 the component manager 131 was signaled to
implement most recently or which audience file 260 is associated
with an experimental binary 270 most recently pulled from the code
vault 120. When a newer experiment is to be run on the server
(e.g., the first audience file 260a was running, and the second
audience file 260b is queued to run), the server agent 132 will
back out the changes made by the older experiment (letting the
component binaries 240 override the older experimental binaries
270) and then implement the newer experimental binaries 270.
[0029] When an experimental binary 270 includes a dependency (e.g.,
for a function or class defined in another binary), the server
agent 132 will attempt to resolve the dependency by first pulling
experimental binaries from within the audience file 260 and then
pulling the component binaries 240 to identify hierarchical
relationships for functions and classes used in the experimental
binary 270. For example, if the first experimental binary 270a
includes a dependency from a "LibProx.dll", the server agent 132
will use the second component binary 240b (titled, "LibProx.dll" in
the present example) to satisfy the experiment binary's dependency.
The server agent 132 enforces isolation between the audience files
260, such that no dependencies can be formed between two binaries
in different audience files 260. Any dependencies from the
experimental binaries 270 that are not resolved within an
associated audience file 260 fall back to the source code held in
the production file 220; isolating the experimental binaries 270 of
one audience from the core systems and experimental binaries 270
used by other audiences, while allowing the process to continue
running as it is modified.
[0030] FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing general stages involved in an
example method 300 for providing user-targeted modification of a
running process on a cloud-based server. Method 300 begins at
OPERATION 310 when a request to begin an experiment is received
from a developer device 110. In various aspects, the request
identifies one or more experimental binaries 270 to use in the
experiment, a duration or time window in which to run the
experiment, and an audience for the experiment. In various aspects,
the audience may be one or more users of a cloud service, specific
servers 130 in the cloud service, or a combination of server types
and users.
[0031] Method 300 proceeds to DECISION 320, where it is determined
whether the experiment is authorized. To determine whether the
experiment is authorized, the component manager 131 determines
whether the requesting user has sufficient permissions to request
the experiment for the given audience (e.g., by checking login
credentials for the requesting user with a domain controller
running in the cloud environment) and whether the experimental
binaries 270 stored in the code vault 120 are trustworthy (e.g.,
checking a certificate of the code vault 120). In various aspects,
the component manager 131 may also require multi-factor
authentication, either from the requesting user (e.g., to use a
second developer device 110 to verify the request) or from a
second, verifying user (using the same or a different developer
device 110) to ensure multi-user permission to run the experiment
as requested.
[0032] In response to determining that the experiment is not
authorized, method 300 may conclude or wait until an additional
authentication factor is received. In various aspects, the method
300 may wait for a predetermined amount of time (e.g., n
seconds/minutes/hours) before invalidating the request received at
OPERATION 310 and concluding.
[0033] In response to determining that the experiment is
authorized, method 300 proceeds to OPERATION 330, where the
experimental binaries 270 are received from the code vault 120. The
experimental binaries 270 are pulled from the code vault 120 onto
one or more servers 130 and are organized according to the audience
(e.g., into audience files 260) so that multiple experiments may be
present on a given server 130, but isolated from one another to
impact the running processes only as designated for the specified
audience.
[0034] In an optional aspect, the component manager 131 may hash
the received experimental binaries 270 and compare the verification
hash against a hash value for the experimental binaries 270
received from the code vault 120 to determine whether the
experimental binaries 270 are what they claim be or have been
modified. If the verification hashes do not match the hash values,
indicating that the binaries have been modified from what was
submitted by the developer, method 300 may conclude as the received
binaries are not trusted. In various aspects, the component manager
131 may signal the developer device 110 that the method 300
concluded due to a hash-mismatch.
[0035] At OPERATION 340 the priorities of the binaries for use in
the running process are determined. As will be appreciated, the
experimental binaries 270 in the authorized experiment will be
given priority over the component binaries 240 to which they
correspond, but experimental binaries 270 from prior authorized
experiments will be backed out of priority so that no more than one
experiment can be run for a given user on a given server 130 at one
time. To determine which binaries are given priority, a hash table
is consulted by the server agent 132 and compared against the
hashes of various experimental binaries 270 provided in the request
for the experiment to determine which experimental binaries 270 are
to be given priority for use with the running process. In various
aspects, the hash table is constructed when the server 130
initializes and is updated as additional binaries are downloaded,
and provides hashes of the experimental binaries 270 as a
dictionary for the experiments to identify experimental binaries
270 from.
[0036] Proceeding to OPERATION 350, the experimental binaries 270
that have priority override the component binaries 240 of the
production code for the running processes. When the experimental
binaries 270 override the component binaries 240, any call to a
binary from the running process will attempt to use the
experimental binaries 270 from the active experiment before falling
back to the component binaries 240 from the production file 220,
allowing the processes that use these binaries to continue running
and experience the effects of the experimental binaries 270 then
next time the binary is referenced. Experimental binaries 270 from
other experiments are not used to resolve any dependencies and when
a prior experiment is supplanted by a new experiment, the
experimental binaries 270 of the prior experiment are no longer
called to. Method 300 may then conclude.
[0037] In various aspects, method 300 may be synchronous or
asynchronous regarding the reception of the experimental binaries
270 and their use by the running process. For example, in an
asynchronous implementation, an initial request for the
experimental binaries 270 is initiated when the running process
attempts to call one or more of the experimental binaries 270,
which will result in the experiment binaries 270 being downloaded
from the code vault 120 while the running process continues to make
calls the corresponding component binaries 240 until the download
of the experimental binaries 270 is complete and their priorities
and dependencies are resolved, at which time the running process
will resolve calls to binaries to the experimental binaries 270. In
an example synchronous implementation, the experimental binaries
270 are downloaded as the calls are made to those binaries by the
running processes, which uses those experimental binaries 270 as
they are downloaded. As will be appreciated, experimental binaries
270 that are part of a prior experiment may remain on a server 130
for later user or may be preloaded in anticipation of their use in
a future experiment.
[0038] While implementations have been described in the general
context of program modules that execute in conjunction with an
application program that runs on an operating system on a computer,
those skilled in the art will recognize that aspects may also be
implemented in combination with other program modules. Generally,
program modules include routines, programs, components, data
structures, and other types of structures that perform particular
tasks or implement particular abstract data types.
[0039] The aspects and functionalities described herein may operate
via a multitude of computing systems including, without limitation,
desktop computer systems, wired and wireless computing systems,
mobile computing systems (e.g., mobile telephones, netbooks, tablet
or slate type computers, notebook computers, and laptop computers),
hand-held devices, multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based or
programmable consumer electronics, minicomputers, and mainframe
computers.
[0040] In addition, according to an aspect, the aspects and
functionalities described herein operate over distributed systems
(e.g., cloud-based computing systems), where application
functionality, memory, data storage and retrieval and various
processing functions are operated remotely from each other over a
distributed computing network, such as the Internet or an intranet.
According to an aspect, user interfaces and information of various
types are displayed via on-board computing device displays or via
remote display units associated with one or more computing devices.
For example, user interfaces and information of various types are
displayed and interacted with on a wall surface onto which user
interfaces and information of various types are projected.
Interaction with the multitude of computing systems with which
implementations are practiced include, keystroke entry, touch
screen entry, voice or other audio entry, gesture entry where an
associated computing device is equipped with detection (e.g.,
camera) functionality for capturing and interpreting user gestures
for controlling the functionality of the computing device, and the
like.
[0041] FIGS. 4-6 and the associated descriptions provide a
discussion of a variety of operating environments in which examples
are practiced. However, the devices and systems illustrated and
discussed with respect to FIGS. 4-6 are for purposes of example and
illustration and are not limiting of a vast number of computing
device configurations that are utilized for practicing aspects,
described herein.
[0042] FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating physical components
(i.e., hardware) of a computing device 400 with which examples of
the present disclosure may be practiced. In a basic configuration,
the computing device 400 includes at least one processing unit 402
and a system memory 404. According to an aspect, depending on the
configuration and type of computing device, the system memory 404
comprises, but is not limited to, volatile storage (e.g., random
access memory), non-volatile storage (e.g., read-only memory),
flash memory, or any combination of such memories. According to an
aspect, the system memory 404 includes an operating system 405 and
one or more program modules 406 suitable for running software
applications 450. According to an aspect, the system memory 404
includes applications 450 such as the running process to be
experimented upon, the experiment creator 111, the experiment
initiator 112, the code vault 120, the component manager 131, or
the server agent 132. The operating system 405, for example, is
suitable for controlling the operation of the computing device 400.
Furthermore, aspects are practiced in conjunction with a graphics
library, other operating systems, or any other application program,
and are not limited to any particular application or system. This
basic configuration is illustrated in FIG. 4 by those components
within a dashed line 408. According to an aspect, the computing
device 400 has additional features or functionality. For example,
according to an aspect, the computing device 400 includes
additional data storage devices (removable and/or non-removable)
such as, for example, magnetic disks, optical disks, or tape. Such
additional storage is illustrated in FIG. 4 by a removable storage
device 409 and a non-removable storage device 410.
[0043] As stated above, according to an aspect, a number of program
modules and data files are stored in the system memory 404. While
executing on the processing unit 402, the program modules 406
(e.g., applications 450) perform processes including, but not
limited to, one or more of the stages of the method 300 illustrated
in FIG. 3. According to an aspect, other program modules are used
in accordance with examples and include applications such as
electronic mail and contacts applications, word processing
applications, spreadsheet applications, database applications,
slide presentation applications, drawing or computer-aided
application programs, etc.
[0044] According to an aspect, the computing device 400 has one or
more input device(s) 412 such as a keyboard, a mouse, a pen, a
sound input device, a touch input device, etc. The output device(s)
414 such as a display, speakers, a printer, etc. are also included
according to an aspect. The aforementioned devices are examples and
others may be used. According to an aspect, the computing device
400 includes one or more communication connections 416 allowing
communications with other computing devices 418. Examples of
suitable communication connections 416 include, but are not limited
to, radio frequency (RF) transmitter, receiver, and/or transceiver
circuitry; universal serial bus (USB), parallel, and/or serial
ports.
[0045] The term computer readable media, as used herein, includes
computer storage media. Computer storage media include volatile and
nonvolatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in any
method or technology for storage of information, such as computer
readable instructions, data structures, or program modules. The
system memory 404, the removable storage device 409, and the
non-removable storage device 410 are all computer storage media
examples (i.e., memory storage.) According to an aspect, computer
storage media include RAM, ROM, electrically erasable programmable
read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory or other memory technology,
CD-ROM, digital versatile disks (DVD) or other optical storage,
magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other
magnetic storage devices, or any other article of manufacture which
can be used to store information and which can be accessed by the
computing device 400. According to an aspect, any such computer
storage media is part of the computing device 400. Computer storage
media do not include a carrier wave or other propagated data
signal.
[0046] According to an aspect, communication media are embodied by
computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules,
or other data in a modulated data signal, such as a carrier wave or
other transport mechanism, and include any information delivery
media. According to an aspect, the term "modulated data signal"
describes a signal that has one or more characteristics set or
changed in such a manner as to encode information in the signal. By
way of example, and not limitation, communication media include
wired media such as a wired network or direct-wired connection, and
wireless media such as acoustic, radio frequency (RF), infrared,
and other wireless media.
[0047] FIGS. 5A and 5B illustrate a mobile computing device 500,
for example, a mobile telephone, a smart phone, a tablet personal
computer, a laptop computer, and the like, with which aspects may
be practiced. With reference to FIG. 5A, an example of a mobile
computing device 500 for implementing the aspects is illustrated.
In a basic configuration, the mobile computing device 500 is a
handheld computer having both input elements and output elements.
The mobile computing device 500 typically includes a display 505
and one or more input buttons 510 that allow the user to enter
information into the mobile computing device 500. According to an
aspect, the display 505 of the mobile computing device 500
functions as an input device (e.g., a touch screen display). If
included, an optional side input element 515 allows further user
input. According to an aspect, the side input element 515 is a
rotary switch, a button, or any other type of manual input element.
In alternative examples, mobile computing device 500 incorporates
more or fewer input elements. For example, the display 505 may not
be a touch screen in some examples. In alternative examples, the
mobile computing device 500 is a portable phone system, such as a
cellular phone. According to an aspect, the mobile computing device
500 includes an optional keypad 535. According to an aspect, the
optional keypad 535 is a physical keypad. According to another
aspect, the optional keypad 535 is a "soft" keypad generated on the
touch screen display. In various aspects, the output elements
include the display 505 for showing a graphical user interface
(GUI), a visual indicator 520 (e.g., a light emitting diode),
and/or an audio transducer 525 (e.g., a speaker). In some examples,
the mobile computing device 500 incorporates a vibration transducer
for providing the user with tactile feedback. In yet another
example, the mobile computing device 500 incorporates input and/or
output ports, such as an audio input (e.g., a microphone jack), an
audio output (e.g., a headphone jack), and a video output (e.g., a
HDMI port) for sending signals to or receiving signals from an
external device. In yet another example, the mobile computing
device 500 incorporates peripheral device port 540, such as an
audio input (e.g., a microphone jack), an audio output (e.g., a
headphone jack), and a video output (e.g., a HDMI port) for sending
signals to or receiving signals from an external device.
[0048] FIG. 5B is a block diagram illustrating the architecture of
one example of a mobile computing device. That is, the mobile
computing device 500 incorporates a system (i.e., an architecture)
502 to implement some examples. In one example, the system 502 is
implemented as a "smart phone" capable of running one or more
applications (e.g., browser, e-mail, calendaring, contact managers,
messaging clients, games, and media clients/players). In some
examples, the system 502 is integrated as a computing device, such
as an integrated personal digital assistant (PDA) and wireless
phone.
[0049] According to an aspect, one or more application programs 550
are loaded into the memory 562 and run on or in association with
the operating system 564. Examples of the application programs
include phone dialer programs, e-mail programs, personal
information management (PIM) programs, word processing programs,
spreadsheet programs, Internet browser programs, messaging
programs, and so forth. According to an aspect, application
programs 550 including the running processes and one or more of the
experiment creator 111, experiment initiator 112, code vault 120,
component manager 131, or server agent 132 are loaded into memory
562. The system 502 also includes a non-volatile storage area 568
within the memory 562. The non-volatile storage area 568 is used to
store persistent information that should not be lost if the system
502 is powered down. The application programs 550 may use and store
information in the non-volatile storage area 568, such as e-mail or
other messages used by an e-mail application, and the like. A
synchronization application (not shown) also resides on the system
502 and is programmed to interact with a corresponding
synchronization application resident on a host computer to keep the
information stored in the non-volatile storage area 568
synchronized with corresponding information stored at the host
computer. As should be appreciated, other applications may be
loaded into the memory 562 and run on the mobile computing device
500.
[0050] According to an aspect, the system 502 has a power supply
570, which is implemented as one or more batteries. According to an
aspect, the power supply 570 further includes an external power
source, such as an AC adapter or a powered docking cradle that
supplements or recharges the batteries.
[0051] According to an aspect, the system 502 includes a radio 572
that performs the function of transmitting and receiving radio
frequency communications. The radio 572 facilitates wireless
connectivity between the system 502 and the "outside world," via a
communications carrier or service provider. Transmissions to and
from the radio 572 are conducted under control of the operating
system 564. In other words, communications received by the radio
572 may be disseminated to the application programs 550 via the
operating system 564, and vice versa.
[0052] According to an aspect, the visual indicator 520 is used to
provide visual notifications and/or an audio interface 574 is used
for producing audible notifications via the audio transducer 525.
In the illustrated example, the visual indicator 520 is a light
emitting diode (LED) and the audio transducer 525 is a speaker.
These devices may be directly coupled to the power supply 570 so
that when activated, they remain on for a duration dictated by the
notification mechanism even though the processor 560 and other
components might shut down for conserving battery power. The LED
may be programmed to remain on indefinitely until the user takes
action to indicate the powered-on status of the device. The audio
interface 574 is used to provide audible signals to and receive
audible signals from the user. For example, in addition to being
coupled to the audio transducer 525, the audio interface 574 may
also be coupled to a microphone to receive audible input, such as
to facilitate a telephone conversation. According to an aspect, the
system 502 further includes a video interface 576 that enables an
operation of an on-board camera 530 to record still images, video
stream, and the like.
[0053] According to an aspect, a mobile computing device 500
implementing the system 502 has additional features or
functionality. For example, the mobile computing device 500
includes additional data storage devices (removable and/or
non-removable) such as, magnetic disks, optical disks, or tape.
Such additional storage is illustrated in FIG. 5B by the
non-volatile storage area 568.
[0054] According to an aspect, data/information generated or
captured by the mobile computing device 500 and stored via the
system 502 are stored locally on the mobile computing device 500,
as described above. According to another aspect, the data are
stored on any number of storage media that are accessible by the
device via the radio 572 or via a wired connection between the
mobile computing device 500 and a separate computing device
associated with the mobile computing device 500, for example, a
server computer in a distributed computing network, such as the
Internet. As should be appreciated such data/information are
accessible via the mobile computing device 500 via the radio 572 or
via a distributed computing network. Similarly, according to an
aspect, such data/information are readily transferred between
computing devices for storage and use according to well-known
data/information transfer and storage means, including electronic
mail and collaborative data/information sharing systems.
[0055] FIG. 6 illustrates one example of the architecture of a
system for providing user-targeted modification of a running
process on a webserver as described above. Binaries developed,
interacted with, or edited in association with the developer device
110 are enabled to be stored in different communication channels or
other storage types. For example, various binaries may be stored
using a directory service 622, a web portal 624, a mailbox service
626, an instant messaging store 628, or a social networking site
630. The component manager 131 is operative to use any of these
types of systems or the like for providing user-targeted
modification of a running process on a webserver, as described
herein. According to an aspect, a server 620 provides the component
manager 131 and the running processes to clients 605a,b,c. As one
example, the server 620 is a web server providing the processes
modifiable while running by the component manager 131 over the web.
The server 620 provides the processes over the web to clients 605
through a network 640. By way of example, the client computing
device is implemented and embodied in a personal computer 605a, a
tablet computing device 605b or a mobile computing device 605c
(e.g., a smart phone), or other computing device. Any of these
examples of the client computing device are operable to obtain
content from the store 616.
[0056] Implementations, for example, are described above with
reference to block diagrams and/or operational illustrations of
methods, systems, and computer program products according to
aspects. The functions/acts noted in the blocks may occur out of
the order as shown in any flowchart. For example, two blocks shown
in succession may in fact be executed substantially concurrently or
the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order,
depending upon the functionality/acts involved.
[0057] The description and illustration of one or more examples
provided in this application are not intended to limit or restrict
the scope as claimed in any way. The aspects, examples, and details
provided in this application are considered sufficient to convey
possession and enable others to make and use the best mode.
Implementations should not be construed as being limited to any
aspect, example, or detail provided in this application. Regardless
of whether shown and described in combination or separately, the
various features (both structural and methodological) are intended
to be selectively included or omitted to produce an example with a
particular set of features. Having been provided with the
description and illustration of the present application, one
skilled in the art may envision variations, modifications, and
alternate examples falling within the spirit of the broader aspects
of the general inventive concept embodied in this application that
do not depart from the broader scope.
* * * * *